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Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Carolyn Crane: A guide to pop cultures references I’ve used recently in books (that I probably shouldn’t have used, but just wanted to!)

Hey Tote Bags ‘n’ Blogs gang! Thanks so much for having me
here!

I grew up on a healthy diet of 1970’s TV show reruns,
accompanied, most often, by delectable after-school snacks I created myself,
like melted chocolate chips with peanut butter swirled in (which I’d eat with a
spoon…like soup!) and sugary cereals with sugar sprinkled on.

Maybe it was my sugar addled brain, but I feel like these
shows seared into my mind and formed a kind of fiction foundation for me.
Gilligan’s Island, Brady Bunch, Star Trek, Beverly Hillbillies, Starsky and
Hutch, Bewitched, and the scariest of all, Twilight Zone (OMG, how did I ever
get homework done???)

However, I think these shows really faded out by the 90’s,
so, kids born in the 1980s and later just don’t know them like I do. Which is
the saddest thing ever, because I always want to refer to them, but half my
audience won’t know them. Plus, readers outside of the US might never have
known them.

This is true also of bands. But sometimes a girl can’t help using references.

Recent ones I snuck in. Hopefully I surrounded them with
enough context that it didn’t lose anybody:

Jed Clampett:
This is the father in Beverly Hillbillies. Basically, he’s a rich Hillbilly who
lives in Hollywood but he still wears his old clothes, including a floppy hat.
In Mr. Real, my villain wears a floppy hat like that, and I totally couldn’t
help but have my heroine make a snide reference to it. “Jed Clampett called. He
wants his hat back,” she says. Half my readers won’t get that. But, I call it a
“floppy hillbilly hat” enough that hopefully people can picture it without
knowing the show.

Kid Rock: My
heroine also refers to the villain, who has not only the hat, but longish blond
hair, as Kid Rock. Do the kids know Kid Rock? Is he worldwide? It’s so hard to
know what people will get!

Brady Bunch: The
ultimate blended TV family and three girls and three boys. I once asked my
little grade school nieces if they knew Brady Bunch and they did seem to. Is it
running on Nickelodeon or something? Anyway, In Devil’s Luck, my standalone
Disillusionists novella, The heroine, Fawna, who was cast onto the streets at
an early age, adopts the last name of Brady because of her love for the Brady
Bunch, and her deep desire that she could be one of the sisters.

Rambo: Surely
this is a known reference! Or maybe not. Rambo is the seminal action adventure
hero, a war veteran/special forces guy who goes kicking ass on the system. At
one point, my Mr. Real heroine (who is apparently as TV and movie-addled as I
ever was) calls the hero Rambo 2000. Listen
up, Rambo 2000… I thought it was fun
and perfect for her to say.

New Kids on the Block,
Johnny Depp, 90210, etc: I had to figure out what posters my heroine and
her sisters would have on the walls of their rooms from when they were kids.
Personally, I wanted to go with Menudo, but that would not work for a heroine
in her 20’s today (despite all the TV references above.) Actually, a few
twitter friends helped me here. It was quite the debate: what would girls who
went to high school around the year 2000 have on their walls for posters?
Between my heroine and her sisters, I used New Kids on the Block, Green Day,
Leonardo DiCaprio, Johnny Depp and the cast of 90210. It was fun seeing what my
tweeps had on their walls!

Giveaway!

I’m giving away on ebook copy of Mr. Real to one random
commenter. The question: just let me know what references above you get. Or,
you can say which ones you don’t get. Because I’m easy like that! And thanks
for stopping by!!

I loved the brady brunch as a kid. Watched all the time after school. I am also a huge, giant fan of 90210, and even watched the newer version. This book sounds awesome, love the cover. Thanks for the giveaway.Christinebails at yahoo dot com

I get them all, we must either be around the same age or both grew up watching old reruns, lol. I know my nieces & nephew (12-18) know Kid Rock well, but some of the others they would be going "Who?" I would have thought the NKOTB and 90210 would have been not as popular around 2000, earlier they were popular and have become more popular again recently.Junemanning_J2004 at yahoo dot com

I call my husband the "Jed Clampett" of our neighborhood! In fact, the neighbours think he is the gardener! The other gardeners always wave to him as do the snow removal guys! They think that he is one of them. At heart, he is! :) I recognized all the others but this reference was my fav!